Houston Rockets' James Harden signals to the crowd after shooting a 3-point basket during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, in Houston. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)

Photo: Dave Einsel, Associated Press

Houston Rockets' James Harden signals to the crowd after shooting a...

HOUSTON -- Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said the story of Tuesday's 140-109 loss to the Rockets should be how poorly his team played, and not his antics in the game's final minute.

But though the Warriors' defense was pretty embarrassing in Houston, the coach's decision to intentionally foul three times in the closing 35 seconds to keep the Rockets from attempting a record-setting three-pointer appeared feeble.

The Rockets scored an NBA season-high 77 first-half points on their way to setting a Toyota Center record for points scored in a game. They tied NBA records with 14 three-pointers in the first half and 23 in the game, but the Warriors finally figured how to stop the onslaught.

With the few remaining from a crowd of 15,453 standing and chanting for "one more three," Jackson had his players intentionally foul the Rockets. Starting with Draymond Green's flagrant foul on Patrick Beverley, the Warriors fouled on each of Houston's final three possessions as the fans booed.

"We're not going to lie down," Jackson said. "I was an old-school basketball player. I'm an old-school coach. If you can't appreciate that, that's on you.

"If you're going to try to get the record, we're going to stop you. ... I would expect nothing less if I was on the other side."

Orlando made 23 three-pointers against Sacramento in 2009. Only three other teams had made 14 threes in a half, and the Rockets shattered their franchise mark for threes in a game by six.

The Rockets made seven three-pointers in each of the first and second quarters, and their hula-hoop-bellied mascot, Clutch, made a halfcourt shot on his first try at halftime.

"Throughout the whole game, you figured they'd cool off just a little bit, but we have to force them into tough shots," said Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, who was limited to seven points on 3-for-12 shooting. "We can't just give them open looks. It gets pretty ugly, pretty fast, if you don't do anything about it.

"Obviously, the crowd was into it, and nobody likes to get embarrassed by giving up an NBA record. We just tried to do what we could to not let that happen."

Houston did what it wanted for most of the game. The Warriors failed to get back in transition, couldn't stop dribble penetration and made the Rockets' pick-and-roll plays look like something new.

Each time a Houston player dribbled into the lane, he drew the defense and then snapped a pass to an open shooter. Each time an open shooter caught the pass, he lofted a shot over a too-slow-to-contend defender.

Former Warriors guard Jeremy Lin scored a game-high 28 points on a career-high five three-pointers, James Harden had 18 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting, and Chandler Parsons added 16 on four three-pointers.

Every Rockets starter scored in double figures, and three reserves reached double digits. One of those was Beverley, who was called for a taunting technical after dunking with 1:04 remaining and then tipped off a bench-to-bench staredown after being flagrantly fouled by Green.

"Who's that?" Jackson deadpanned when asked about Beverley. "At the end of the day, he made plays. He had 11 points in five minutes and change. What are you going to do? He played well, and they played well.

"I don't know if he said anything. That's irrelevant. That had nothing to do with it. But if you're going to try to shoot threes, we're going to run you off the line. We're developing something here, and we're awfully proud of it."

Wednesday's game

Who: Warriors (30-18) vs. Thunder (36-12)

Where: Oklahoma City

When: 5 p.m.

TV/Radio: CSNBA/680

Of note: The Thunder have split their past eight games, including a 104-99 loss to the Warriors on Jan. 23 in Oakland. ... Oklahoma City has remained dominant at home, where it has won 14 straight against Western Conference opponents and seven consecutive against the Warriors. ... The Thunder are first in the league in point margin (plus-8.5 per game) and trail only Miami in field-goal-percentage margin, outshooting opponents 47.9 to 43.1 percent. ... Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant is having a career season in assists, steals and blocked shots while piling up enough points (29.4 per game) that he's on pace for a fourth straight scoring title. ... Warriors center Andrew Bogut (left ankle) will not play Wednesday or Saturday, but he'll start Friday at Memphis.